Hinge Dating App Review And Experiment — Fast Dating Guys in 4 Days
I owe a date to at least 25 people now — Time to uninstall the app
The curious case of dating applications had been bugging me since my uni days. I should’ve used these apps during my university days but I didn’t need to since I already had prior commitments. But that phase ended, and so did my preconceived notion of old-school romance. I finally decided to change the aforementioned notion and install a dating app called Hinge for the first time ever, at 24. Age is just a number, jail is just a room (weird pun, I know).
New experiences are something I live for whether they’re bad or good. And these applications have been the talk of the town (city, actually) for many years. At 18, I remember thinking — how can you like someone just by looking at their pictures? I understood people’s preferences but felt it would never work out for me. I wanted the old school romance of meeting someone accidentally and falling in love. Conversations have always been more important to me. But there’s a reason why we call 18-year-olds naive — cuz THEY ARE! My fictional world broke soon after as adulting hit me and the year after 18 saw the death of unrealistic stories and a quench for realism. My thoughts changed! Looking at people and reading their bios is a start — the real magic happens when you actually talk to them. And it’s not all bad.
I installed the Hinge dating app in August as an experiment for 4 days. As a noob who knew nothing about how it works and had only heard stories of it, I quickly set my profile up like an over-enthusiastic child with super random prompts and pictures. I have been camera shy all my life so putting up good pictures was a struggle.
The writer in me has begun romanticising even the most unfavourable situations as a learning process. So I had literally nothing to lose (except my comfort zone) so I embraced this challenge.
Find the application’s review below.
Initial thoughts —
The famous dating app Hinge is definitely one of the best ones I’ve used so far. The UI can be improved but it delivers what it’s supposed to.
Dealing with an unusual number of guys made me anxious, nervous, and overwhelmed to the nth degree. The main cause for this is that my interaction with people has been severely restricted due to the pandemic. Consequently, everything seemed heightened and overwhelming.
It makes me remember a meme — When you’re on a dating app and you realize you actually have to TALK. That’s a lot of work and it’s coming from a person who loves talking.
The problem wasn’t the conversations. I guess where I went wrong was accepting a lot of the likes (70+) that I received in just 4 days. I also swiped right on many profiles as if I couldn’t get enough. It was a game I wanted to play well and I was enjoying it a little too much.
It resulted in having to participate in multiple conversations at the same time, which led to pure burnout as my social battery drained drastically. I like texting but I usually prefer calls over texts to get to know someone. I should’ve used the calling option but it seemed too soon and I wasn’t sure if other people were into it. For the four days, all I did was text, blushed, laughed, cringed, felt disgusted, added some people on Instagram and almost fell in love.
Who knew Hinge could be so risky? It could actually make you fall in love. So I’m guessing the application does what it’s supposed to. Having a diverse pool of people helps. The prompts on the profile section give away some parts of a person which departs from the shallow world of looks. I really liked the prompts and the unique answers of men. It truly brought out their creativity and quirky personalities.
I found some really interesting profiles and I don’t know about dating but I definitely wanted to be friends with those folks. That’s a wicked thing to say considering Hinge is not an application to make friends. It defeats the whole purpose. Bumble offers the BFF option and I will try it next.
Anyway, to my surprise, dating is really fun (even if it was virtual). Getting to know such diverse views, opinions, little things about people and what they love — it’s magic and so pure.
I had many funny thoughts crossing my mind such as —
- For the people working in good companies — My initial thought was — Can they refer me? Someone worked for Google, alright?
- Some preparing for UPSC CSE — I thought of asking them if they wanna solve the previous year question papers together? If Rajendra Nagar romances don’t last, how will the Hinge romances weigh? Also, how do they get the time? I was genuinely curious.
- Creeps — I had nothing to say except internal fuck offs.
- People I vibed with — It was lovely. I had forgotten how it feels to be wanted and it was much needed.
- Someone I almost fell for — The riskiest thing ever. Maybe it’s just infatuation but I felt somewhat nervous yet comfortable with him. There was this familiarity I felt, which was refreshing. He made it to one of my short paragraphs. Lucky guy, unfortunately, he doesn't know that.
- Ghosted them/They ghosted me — It’s life. We can’t get everything we want. Or to put it the other way — Not everyone wants us (sad reacts only). Honestly, they didn’t ghost me. Our conversations ended abruptly and I mostly forgot to respond since I was busy experimenting. So maybe I ghosted them? I feel like a bad guy now (Billie Eilish intensifies). Had I been serious about the application, I would be upfront if I don't feel the vibe. Shall do it the next time (ain't happening any time soon) as honesty maketh us.
- Asked me out on a date — Some guys politely asked me on a date for some food/drinks. I sat on my terrace blushing at their texts and hoping I was in my second hometown and not stuck in my native land. It was adorable and a constant reminder of how my life was dull and boring.
- Made me a playlist — THIS WAS SO CUTE. Except — What if he sends the same playlist with some modifications to every girl he likes? Even if he does, I don’t care. The music was brilliant and just right for my taste. I think he especially made it for me considering we spoke about my music taste and the songs on it were in accordance with it.
- A cute Doctor — He was my first match. And we vibed, even if it was for a short while. He seems like such a great guy to hang out with, or even go on a date with. Perfect jokes, mannerisms and vibe. I was comfortable.
- Got annoyed because I told him the truth — This guy and I spoke for a while. I told him I’m not looking for anything serious and he seemed super off and upset. I don’t blame him. I’d want to date me.
Did I do justice to it?
Short answer — Nope. Because I was in such a hurry and solely treated it like an experiment, it led me to be unbothered and not so serious. I didn’t give enough time or attention to guys to get to know them well. Maybe if I had done so, my experience would be different. Also, because it was done for such a short duration, it seemed impossible to do so. Getting to know someone requires time and effort and I lacked both.
Hence, it's a shame, really.
What did we really talk about?
The conversations I had with these men were rather interesting.
We spoke about things such as Memes, Music, Compliments, How Mondays suck, Work-Life, Weather, Going to a Vineyard, Movies, Afghanistan crisis, Life, Exams, Marvel vs DC, Video Calls, Getting Vaccinated, Covid, Guitar, Open Mic Nights, Goa Trips, adding each other on Instagram, Making fun of a guy named Aashik (translates to Lover), David Gilmore, Metal and Prog Rock, Concerts, Writing, Trauma bonding on shutting down of The Humming Tree, How the corporate culture is killing work-life balance as one of the guys worked for 14–15 hours (no wonder why he is single), philosophy, food, how Dal Chawal is elite, the best parts of my week, our interests, politics, how someone would love it if I sing or read my work, if I’m in a band, books, music suggestions, startups, top movies of all time, how messed up our lives are due to pandemic, technology, education, my favourite memory of THT, thoughts on The Writing on the Wall — the new Iron Maiden album, and so much more! I honestly have forgotten everything I spoke about since I deleted the application soon after. There is so much more that even my words are inconsistent in this paragraph — some in lower cases and some in upper cases. Who cares? *incoming grammar nazis in 3.. 2… 1…) In my defence, it’s 4 am and I’m in no mood to edit this.
Some conclusions —
1 — Everyone misses The Humming Tree in Bangalore a little too much and all the lovely Open Mic Nights and concerts. I agree with everyone.
2 – 98% of the guys I spoke to agree that Dark is the greatest time-travel show. 2 people thought there was nothing memorable about it :(
3 — Some people kept texting and it felt like they were talking to themselves. I received 15–20 messages in a queue from some guys even when I didn’t respond to their previous texts. I can’t deal with it and find it weird but I also had this realisation —
People are desperate to be heard, get attention and feel loved. I may have ghosted them but I also feel bad. This generation is so lonely.
4 — This pandemic phase is making everyone lose their minds (some more than others)
5 — I am adorable and cute.
6 — I believe in the 5th point only by 70%.
7 — I may or may not have really liked someone. Either way, it’s good to have a real connection with someone.
But here I am — still single. My conclusions don’t exist of any romance-related summaries — since I didn’t really go on a real date or felt the vibe since almost all my conversations happened over texts (two exceptions). But for a short while, I did realise — It’s lovely to have someone to talk to and share your life with. It’s less weird in this difficult world. Other than that, I love and loathe being single. I am truly a contradiction.
Random Mentions — Few Lines I Could Recall
Among all the interesting conversations I have had, I somehow only recall a few lines.
- Damn, now how does a noob guitarist who has shit vocals compete with this? Teach me sense.
Me — You don’t have to. Not everything is a competition :D
2 . Him — You look very cute
Me — Thanks, it’s the filter
Him — I sense modesty.
3. Him — I like you
Me — Thanks but you haven’t met me and I could be a psychopath like the one in Gone Girl
Him — That means you’re as smart and pretty as Rosamund Pike
Me — Nice one. I like you.
4. Let me be the judge of how good you look in life. I’m a very dirty judge, you can buy me off easily.
Answer — I didn’t respond to it since it made me a little pissed off although I’m sure it was meant to sound romantic. I don’t need someone’s validation pffft. Besides, dirty judge? really? It just sounds weird and super creepy.
5. Elegance coupled with a zing of liveliness is what I could figure from your profile. Shall we start with the story of a crime lord in the west?
6. Even SRK can randomly hold a guitar, what flex.
Me — I didn’t respond to him -__- I wasn’t randomly holding a guitar in my picture. I genuinely performed and my profile picture showed it clearly. Maybe he thought it’ll be funny to roast me. I love a good roast (keyword — good). But this was just bland and unfunny.
7. Multiple people saying — you look cute, pretty etc. I’m grateful, truly although I suck at accepting compliments (work in progress).
8. Dark is the greatest show as opposed to Doctor Who?
9. Wanna run away to a vineyard and sing a duet together?
10. What’s the craziest thing you have done?
Me — Should’ve said — getting matched with you.
11. Such a pity The Humming Tree shut down. We should totally jam someday. I’ve added this point only because 11 is considered a good number in India (we call it shagun — translates to auspicious). I am only pretending, I don’t care.
12. I wanted to stop at 11 but — this guy said, ‘why did you call me bro’?
Me — I call everyone ‘bro’, please don’t take it personally?
He took it personally.